System and method for providing guaranteed channel content in a switched digital video network using multicast ABR streaming
First Claim
1. A method for providing guaranteed channels in a switched digital video (SDV) network to a subscriber station, the method comprising:
- receiving a request from the subscriber station for a guaranteed channel;
determining which edge quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) device the requested guaranteed channel is assigned to;
modeling a bandwidth pipe associated with the edge QAM device for allocating appropriate bandwidth to a multicast adaptive bitrate (MABR) stream of the requested guaranteed channel; and
responsive to the bandwidth pipe modeling of the edge QAM device and determining that a particular MABR stream having an appropriate bitrate can be packed into the bandwidth pipe of the edge QAM device, joining the particular MABR stream of the requested channel to facilitate its streaming via the edge QAM device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for providing guaranteed channels in a switched digital video network using multicast adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming. In one implementation, when a request for a guaranteed channel is received from a subscriber station (e.g., a set-top box or STB), a determination may be made as to which edge QAM device the requested channel is assigned to. A bandwidth pipe modeling may be performed for the assigned edge QAM to determine an optimal bitrate of a particular MABR stream that may be packed into the edge QAM'"'"'s bandwidth pipe. Thereafter, the particular MABR stream may be joined to facilitate streaming of the requested channel via the QAM serving the subscriber station.
32 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for providing guaranteed channels in a switched digital video (SDV) network to a subscriber station, the method comprising:
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receiving a request from the subscriber station for a guaranteed channel; determining which edge quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) device the requested guaranteed channel is assigned to; modeling a bandwidth pipe associated with the edge QAM device for allocating appropriate bandwidth to a multicast adaptive bitrate (MABR) stream of the requested guaranteed channel; and responsive to the bandwidth pipe modeling of the edge QAM device and determining that a particular MABR stream having an appropriate bitrate can be packed into the bandwidth pipe of the edge QAM device, joining the particular MABR stream of the requested channel to facilitate its streaming via the edge QAM device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for providing guaranteed channels in a switched digital video (SDV) network to a subscriber station, the apparatus comprising:
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a resource manager node, responsive to a request received from the subscriber station for a guaranteed channel, configured to determine an edge quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) device to which the requested guaranteed channel is assigned, and model a bandwidth pipe associated with the edge QAM device for allocating appropriate bandwidth to a multicast adaptive bitrate (MABR) stream of the requested guaranteed channel; and a stream processor node configured, responsive to the bandwidth pipe modeling by the resource manager node and determining that a particular MABR stream having an appropriate bitrate can be packed into the bandwidth pipe of the edge QAM device, to join the particular MABR stream of the requested channel so as to facilitate its streaming via the edge QAM device. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A stream processor node operative to facilitate streaming of guaranteed channels in a switched digital video (SDV) network to a subscriber station, the stream processor node comprising:
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one or more processors; a network interface configured for transmission of guaranteed channel content to an edge quadrature amplitude modulator (QAM) device serving one or more subscriber stations via a Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) network; and a persistent memory module including program instructions that perform the following when executed by the one or more processors; responsive to a bandwidth pipe model received from a resource manager node, wherein the bandwidth pipe model is determined for a select edge QAM device to which a requested guaranteed channel is assigned, allocating appropriate bandwidth in a bandwidth pipe associated with the select edge QAM device to fit a particular multicast ABR (MABR) stream of the requested guaranteed channel; interfacing with an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) switch to facilitate joining of the particular MABR stream to a correct IGMP group, wherein the particular MABR stream is a gapped stream having a predetermined gap at stream access points (SAPs); and de-gapping the particular MABR stream to form an unsegmented stream for transmission to the edge QAM device. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification